Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012

Conference singles matches begin Tuesday

The top half of the Los Banos tennis team got an early look at some of the Western Athletic Conference singles competition in a 9-0 sweep over Ceres Wednesday at Los Banos High.

As has been the norm over the last three years, LB's Alexis Barcellos and Ceres' Marifer Ochoa took their No. 1 singles match to three sets, with Barcellos emerging the victor of a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

Barcellos trailed 4-1 in the third set before kicking into a rarely-seen gear.

"She just attacked more, and she was running down everything she could get to," Los Banos coach Lynn Barcellos said. "There were a couple of shots she got that you didn't think they would come back. There was a really long point that completely deflated the match, she went all the way across the court to get it. It changed the momentum of the match."

The two are on a collision course to meet again in title match of the WAC singles tournament (the first three rounds are on Tuesday, with the championship match on Thursday during the doubles tournament). The rivals have met in the past two WAC title matches, but Barcellos is now on a four-match win streak against Ochoa.

LB's No. 2 singles player, Christina Soares, may have something to say about that though. Ceres' Kaylee Donovan gave Soares a match as well, but Soares rallied to win 6-4, 7-6, and Lynn Barcellos said Alexis may have to get through Soares to get to Ochoa.

"I think Christina will give her a run for her money," Barcellos said. "Christina's playing to win."

The Ceres match, postponed because of a rainout last week, was rescheduled between Tuesday's 9-0 win over Pacheco and Thursday's match against Livingston (results of which were unavailable at press time), and extended LB's league win streak to 35 matches.

Over the past two years, Los Banos (18-0, 11-0 WAC) has gone 202-5 in individual league matches.

"Ten players of my 12 have been with me for these last three years," Barcellos said. "We've earned this record."

First round WAC singles play begins at 9 a.m. on Tuesday at Pacheco High.

Enterprise reporter David Witte can be reached by phone at 388-6565 or by e-mail at sports@losbanosenterprise.com

Enterprise reporter David Witte can be reached by phone at 388-6565 or by e-mail at sports@losbanosenterprise.com